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Notable short track inspector Ricky Brooks was involved in a fight with a driver's father on Tuesday at New Smyrna Speedway. Photo by Eddie Clark | Trans-Am

Video: Driver dad fights tech official at Florida short track

The entire ordeal was resolved as a misunderstanding

February 14, 2018

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A Super Late Model driver's father physically confronted notable tech inspector Ricky Brooks during the World Series of Asphalt event on Tuesday at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida.

Canadian racer Nicholas Naugle was disqualified by race control for speeding by a safety buggy under caution and forced down pit road as a result. Naugle was attempting to clean off his tires and sped by the vehicle once he had completed the deed.

Race director Rusty Crews attempted to issue a reprimand on the driver communication channel, but he couldn't reach Naugle or his spotter. Once Naugle stopped on pit road, Brooks walked over to explain to the driver was getting parked for the night. Brooks barely had time to pull down the safety net before he was bum-rushed by driver's father, Bryan. The father grappled with the technical director and ended up on the ground, swarmed by officials and various crew members.

As it turns out, the elder Naugle didn’t know who Brooks was and assumed a stranger was trying to reach in and harm his son. Nicholas Naugle and Braden met with Crews after the event had concluded, quickly resolving the issue.

A Naugle team representative simply called it "a misunderstanding."

No additional punishment will be levied against the team, and the Naugles are expected to compete for the remainder of the week.

“I think the dad just misunderstood something because Ricky only took the window net down to talk to him,” Crews said. “And I don’t know what happened. Those guys are real nice guys and I don’t think they meant any harm.

“I guess if it were my kid and I thought someone was about to hit my kid, it might have happened too. We all talked it over. The kid is good. The only issue we had with him was speeding around the safety workers.”

For his part, Brooks doesn’t expect to hold a grudge.

“It’s not a big deal,” Brooks said. “He thought I was trying to hurt his kid. He didn’t know who I was. We’ll be back tomorrow .”

The World Series of Asphalt is a nine-day event that runs alongside Daytona Speedweeks that features Super Late Models, Pro Late Models, Tour Type Modifeds and Florida Modifieds at the track just 15 miles south of Daytona International Speedway.